Martin Chambi Panorama Photo View of Machu Picchu

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Exceptional Finds Ancient, Ethno, Fine Art

By Artemis Gallery

Nov 15, 2024

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• Lot Description
  Martin Chambi Jimenez or Martin Chambi de Coaza (Peruvian, 1891-1973). Panorama of Machu Picchu comprised of two joined photographs, ca. 1930 to 1938. A wonderful panorama comprised of two joined views of Machu Picchu, one of the most remarkably well-preserved pre-Columbian sites of ancient Inca ruins in the Cordillera de Vilcabamba of the Andes, by legendary Peruvian photographer Martin Chambi. Chambi was best known for capturing Peruvian sites and landmarks as well as revealing the daily aspects of Andean life, presenting his Peruvian subjects with great dignity despite their oftentimes relatively impoverished existence. A special vision captured through the lens of one of the first important Latin American photographers. Size: 6.75" L x 18.125" W (17.1 cm x 46 cm) Size (frame): 9.8" L x 21.5" W (24.9 cm x 54.6 cm)
  
  Martin Chambi was born to peasants in a town called Coaza near Lake Titikaka and learned his craft from Don Max T. Vargas. In 1920, he moved his family to Cusco (also Cuzco) where he set up a photography studio and practiced until his death. During his lifetime, his photographs were exhibited in galleries in Lima and Arequipa, Peru; La Paz, Bolivia, and Santiago, Chile. In addition his photographs were published in "National Geographic" (1938) and various newspapers and magazines. In 1977, the American photographer and anthropologist Edward Ranney together with Victor Chambi catalogued approximately 6,000 plates, and in 1979, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a Martin Chambi retrospective exhibition that traveled throughout the world, giving Chambi's work international exposure.
  
  More about Martin Chambi from the Getty: "Chambi learned photography in 1900 and from 1908 to 1917 and was an apprentice to the photographer Max T. Vargas in Arequipa, Peru. In 1917, he opened his own studio in Sicuani, Peru and in 1920, he moved to Cuzco, where he practiced commercial portrait photography and also recorded the "heritage of the Indian culture in the highland", in an effort to preserve it. In the years between 1920 and 1939, Chambi documented the city of Cuzco and the regional architecture of Peru. In 1924-1925, Chambi set up a second studio in Cuzco which operated until 1973. He was the co-founder of the Instituto Americano de Arte, Cuzco, in 1927-1928." (Getty Record)
  
  More about Martin Chambi from MOMA: "'It is believed that Indigenous peoples have no culture…that they are barbarians,' declared Martín Chambi after exhibiting his photographs in Chile in 1936.1 '[T]hat is why I am undertaking this task,' he affirmed.2 As an Indigenous descendant, Chambi devoted his decades-long career to photographing the lives and surroundings of the Peruvian people of the Southern Andes during the early 20th century. From formal studio portrayals of Peru's diverse society to chronicles of the Andes and their environs, Chambi’s work remains a testament to his drive for capturing his country’s history and culture.
  
  Born to a Quechua family in the Coasa district of Southern Peru, Chambi first encountered photography at the age of 14, while working at the British Mining Company Santo Domingo, where his father also worked. It was here that he came across two British company photographers, Angus and Ferrin, who showed him the workings of the camera. Within a few years, in 1908, he moved to Arequipa to become assistant to Max T. Vargas, a renowned photographer and owner of one of the most well-known studios in the city. In his nine years training with Vargas, Chambi learned the technical and aesthetic fundamentals of artistic portraiture and outdoor photography, exhibiting his work locally and establishing connections with Arequipa's vibrant artistic community. This period marks the beginning of his successful career, when he participated in multiple photographic competitions and earned himself several copper medals on various occasions.
  
  Around 1917, Chambi opened his own photographic studio, first in the town Sicuani and then in Cusco. While his studio soon became the regional leader in natural light portraiture, the artist also worked as a photographic correspondent for national journals and newspapers documenting streets, monuments, everyday scenes of urban and rural life, events, and gatherings, as well as Peruvian architectural and archaeological sites. He photographed the Incan citadel Machu Picchu, and documented an array of subjects, from the prominent families of Cuzco to the daily lives of the Andean communities and the working class. His photojournalism and nationalist spirit were shaped at a time when foreign explorations of Peru's ancient monuments were at a peak and the tourist industry was just emerging. It also coincided with the cultural and political emergence of the Indigenism movement, in which Chambi was profoundly influential for changing the way the country was represented through photography.
  
  Both his landscapes and his portraits of Indigenous sitters from this period challenged traditional understandings of national identity and representation, and it was through his extensive photographic records, publications, and postcard production that he radically changed perceptions of the region, leaving an indelible mark on Peruvian visual culture. Over the course of his life, Chambi’s work was widely recognized, exhibited, and published both in Peru and throughout Latin America, leaving behind a massive and profoundly influential body of work as Peru's first Indigenous photographer." (Author: Damasia Lacroze, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, 2023)
  
  Source for quotes: Pablo Cruz, Natalia Majluf, and Edward Ranney, eds., Chambi (Lima, Peru: MALI, Museo de Arte de Lima, 2015, p. 4) - Author
  
  Please Note: A comparable Martin Chambi panorama photo diptych of Machu Picchu is currently listed by Thomas A. Goldwasser Rare Books for $5500.
  
  Provenance: private D. C. collection, California, USA; D. C. is an Emmy Award winning Hollywood writer and Executive Producer, collected before 2000
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #189436

  Condition

  Very good condition commensurate with age. Float-mounted behind glass in black frame with gold-tone fillet. Photos have not been examined outside the frame. Expected age wear to framing.
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